So-called KARAOKE systems are known, in which one or more singers sing a song while being accompanied by a pre-recorded music composition. Typical KARAOKE equipment contains a plurality of manual switches to enable the operator to set the echo/reverberation, key shifter, tone, and volume adjustments prior to or during playing the music composition. The operator or moderator, sometimes called a disc-jockey (D.J.), asks the singer what key he/she sings in and then activates the key switch believed to be the singer's vocal key range. The prior art KARAOKE equipment enables manual adjustment of the key (shifter).
Not infrequently, however, the amateur singer does not know his/her singing key or provides the operator with a wrong key. In addition, the key in which the pre-recorded musical piece was performed/recorded is typically unknown to the KARAOKE singer and the operator. Accordingly, the KARAOKE experience of such singers singing off-key with the music can be embarrassing and may result in diminished participation by other would-be KARAOKE singers.
Further, a singer's voice may not exactly coincide with one of the six conventional keys. The prior art KARAOKE equipment is limited to manual key adjustment by trial-and-error technique as the KARAOKE music is being played. Typically, a KARAOKE singer is subjected to several trial runs, which may be embarrassing, in an attempt to select the best suited key shift adjustment of the KARAOKE singer's voice. Such embarrassing trial runs may be avoided by use of the present invention.